Sweet
I was invited to help devise some training for some healthcare professionals today. The suggested topic was diabetes, and one reason that they had chosen me was that I'm diabetic (Type 2) and have a good knowledge of it.
They had brought some things to eat during the discussion.
On the table were a tub of chocolate cornflake cakes, a bag of chocolate finger biscuits, half a dozen Fondant Fancies - which were little cakes - and a tub of toffees.
Would I please help myself?
"Well, no, thank you, because - - er - - I'm diabetic."
They all wore expressions of shocked realisation.
"Oh - - yessssssssssss - - - of course."
Funny thing, this diabetes lark, though not in a good way.
When I said in June that I was going to do some work at a new Diabetes Institute in Paris, because it mean that I was going to Paris, several people said to me, jokingly, "Ooh! I wish I had diabetes!"
Has anyone ever said, even in jest, "Ooh! I wish I had cancer!"? No, I thought not.
Which, I think, shows that diabetes isn't taken as seriously as it might be.
Type 1 diabetics, in case you don't know, are the ones whose body doesn't manufacture insulin, and they always need to inject themselves with insulin.
Type 2 diabetics, on the other hand, either don't produce enough, or have a body that's become resistant to the insulin that they do produce.
The insulin - and this is a rather simplified explanation, so do bear with me please if you know a lot about it - sends the sugar from food whizzing round your body and into your muscles etc, thus giving you energy.
If your blood sugar's too high, it means that the sugar is just sitting there in your blood, rather than going to the muscles. So you feel tired.
Type 2 diabetics usually have to go on to insulin eventually: but to start with they might be able to bring their blood sugar down by diet - eating things that aren't laden with sugar and that release energy slowly, such as wholegrain cereals.
The next stage - which I'm at - is to take tablets - there are some which lower the sugar, and some which boost the insulin.
The problem with having too much sugar in your blood, apart from tiredness, is that - well - where does your blood go? Yes, everywhere in your body. And it coats everything with sugar, which wrecks everything, though slowly.
So you may get circulation problems, and kidney problems, and nerve damage, such as peripheral neuropathy, which means not being able to feel parts of the bits of you at the edges, such as your feet. And wounds don't heal very well. And you can - like the Communist - eventually develop leg ulcers which simply won't heal, and you have to have your leg amputated.
And your eyes don't like being coated in sugar either, and tend to not work very well, and you can get blurred vision, and you can go blind.
Oh yes, and it can predispose you to heart problems - - anyway, enough! The point is, diabetes takes an average of fifteen years off your life, apparently, so it's a good idea to take it seriously.
Which I do; though my blood sugar's too high at the moment. I check it using a monitor that sticks a pin in your finger to get a drop of blood. The result should be about 7: mine is usually between nine and eleven. Last Saturday evening, however, I got a spectacular one-off reading of 19.2, and couldn't really work out what I'd eaten to cause it, which was rather worrying.
You are supposed to not let your blood sugar drop below 4. But mine never goes that low because by the time it gets down to 6 I am about to faint dead away: so I always carry an emergency banana everywhere so I can eat something before it does that.
I don't smoke or drink alcohol and I eat a pretty healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetables. I am pretty much a model diabetic patient, which is why I'm so fed up, because my blood sugar's still high.
So, wishing to ask why my blood sugar's so high, and why I feel so faint before it goes down to 4, I went to the doctor yesterday.
I tried to book an appointment with the practice's diabetes specialist doctor: he's on sabbatical for another four weeks. So I had to book with someone else.
She was a new registrar, very young. She was lovely and I smiled to myself as she did all the things that doctors are taught to do in Communication Skills - the area in which I work - during training. Luckily, she didn't ask what my job is, because "and I help to train and assess doctors in Communication Skills" would never be a helpful answer in these circumstances.
The poor woman floundered about for a bit but clearly didn't know enough and finally suggested, as tactfully as she could, that I should come back soon and see a proper grown-up doctor.
Diabetes is, amongst other things, really a bit of a bore, and a bit of a life sentence. And you don't get time off for good behaviour, damn and blast it.
They had brought some things to eat during the discussion.
On the table were a tub of chocolate cornflake cakes, a bag of chocolate finger biscuits, half a dozen Fondant Fancies - which were little cakes - and a tub of toffees.
Would I please help myself?
"Well, no, thank you, because - - er - - I'm diabetic."
They all wore expressions of shocked realisation.
"Oh - - yessssssssssss - - - of course."
Funny thing, this diabetes lark, though not in a good way.
When I said in June that I was going to do some work at a new Diabetes Institute in Paris, because it mean that I was going to Paris, several people said to me, jokingly, "Ooh! I wish I had diabetes!"
Has anyone ever said, even in jest, "Ooh! I wish I had cancer!"? No, I thought not.
Which, I think, shows that diabetes isn't taken as seriously as it might be.
Type 1 diabetics, in case you don't know, are the ones whose body doesn't manufacture insulin, and they always need to inject themselves with insulin.
Type 2 diabetics, on the other hand, either don't produce enough, or have a body that's become resistant to the insulin that they do produce.
The insulin - and this is a rather simplified explanation, so do bear with me please if you know a lot about it - sends the sugar from food whizzing round your body and into your muscles etc, thus giving you energy.
If your blood sugar's too high, it means that the sugar is just sitting there in your blood, rather than going to the muscles. So you feel tired.
Type 2 diabetics usually have to go on to insulin eventually: but to start with they might be able to bring their blood sugar down by diet - eating things that aren't laden with sugar and that release energy slowly, such as wholegrain cereals.
The next stage - which I'm at - is to take tablets - there are some which lower the sugar, and some which boost the insulin.
The problem with having too much sugar in your blood, apart from tiredness, is that - well - where does your blood go? Yes, everywhere in your body. And it coats everything with sugar, which wrecks everything, though slowly.
So you may get circulation problems, and kidney problems, and nerve damage, such as peripheral neuropathy, which means not being able to feel parts of the bits of you at the edges, such as your feet. And wounds don't heal very well. And you can - like the Communist - eventually develop leg ulcers which simply won't heal, and you have to have your leg amputated.
And your eyes don't like being coated in sugar either, and tend to not work very well, and you can get blurred vision, and you can go blind.
Oh yes, and it can predispose you to heart problems - - anyway, enough! The point is, diabetes takes an average of fifteen years off your life, apparently, so it's a good idea to take it seriously.
Which I do; though my blood sugar's too high at the moment. I check it using a monitor that sticks a pin in your finger to get a drop of blood. The result should be about 7: mine is usually between nine and eleven. Last Saturday evening, however, I got a spectacular one-off reading of 19.2, and couldn't really work out what I'd eaten to cause it, which was rather worrying.
You are supposed to not let your blood sugar drop below 4. But mine never goes that low because by the time it gets down to 6 I am about to faint dead away: so I always carry an emergency banana everywhere so I can eat something before it does that.
I don't smoke or drink alcohol and I eat a pretty healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetables. I am pretty much a model diabetic patient, which is why I'm so fed up, because my blood sugar's still high.
So, wishing to ask why my blood sugar's so high, and why I feel so faint before it goes down to 4, I went to the doctor yesterday.
I tried to book an appointment with the practice's diabetes specialist doctor: he's on sabbatical for another four weeks. So I had to book with someone else.
She was a new registrar, very young. She was lovely and I smiled to myself as she did all the things that doctors are taught to do in Communication Skills - the area in which I work - during training. Luckily, she didn't ask what my job is, because "and I help to train and assess doctors in Communication Skills" would never be a helpful answer in these circumstances.
The poor woman floundered about for a bit but clearly didn't know enough and finally suggested, as tactfully as she could, that I should come back soon and see a proper grown-up doctor.
Diabetes is, amongst other things, really a bit of a bore, and a bit of a life sentence. And you don't get time off for good behaviour, damn and blast it.
posted by Daphne at 5:53 pm
7 Comments:
People said similar things to me when I lost 2 stone due to glandular fever and post-viral fatigue. I was, sadly, too weak to hit them.
See, this is why I prefer the current American private medical system, even with all its flaws, to the socialized medical system of Canada and the UK.
At least we would be able to find another doctor who specializes in diabetes and not have to wait four weeks.
I certainly did not find that a bore. A life sentence, yes it is. It is not something I've ever taken lightly. I've a friend that's lost both legs, and has a myriad of other problems, so I know a bit about the disease. You have put it in such plain words here. Just so easy to understand. I learned more from your post than talking to her for years.
Ailbhe - yes, most of us are grateful when we've lost weight but, of course, that would not be the case with you anyway, and certainly not in this instance.
Bob - I think the National Health Service in Britain was a brilliant idea in that it gives care to everyone - - the problem is, people now have much higher expectations of both the care and of how long they will live. So something needs to change!
Debby - thank you. It's taken me ages to pick up a clear explanation that makes sense, so I hoped that others might be interested to hear it.
An afterthought: I now know more about diabetes than I ever wanted to know. Thanks awfully for telling me about the details.
Seriously, a great post. Ongoing education, even from a humble blogpost, is a big part of the answer. If you don't know what ails you, you can get in big trouble! Maybe you helped to save someone today.
I've just remembered that an acquaintance of mine was congratulated on her chemotherapy-induced weightloss, too. That beats my mono all hollow.
rhymeswithplaque: As someone who grew up unable to afford medical care, who now donates money to her friends in the USA who cannot afford medical care, I strongly approve of socialised medicine. And of fighting the system to get the best care you can; even in the USA it's not always possible to see the best practitioner in your field, depending on your insurance and private income.
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